John 3:11

We speak that we do know (o oidamen laloumen). Jesus simply claims knowledge of what he has tried to make plain to the famous Rabbi without success. John uses lalew some 60 times, half of them by Jesus, very little distinction existing between the use of lalew and legw in John. Originally lalew referred to the chatter of birds. Note John's frequent use of amhn amhn and legw (double emphasis). And bear witness of that we have seen (kai o ewrakamen marturoumen). The same use of neuter singular relative o as before. Perfect active indicative of oraw. He is not a dreamer, guesser, or speculator. He is bearing witness from personal knowledge, strange as this may seem to Nicodemus. And ye receive not our witness (kai thn marturian hmwn ou lambanete). This is the tragedy of the matter as John has shown ( John 1:11John 1:26 ) and as will continue to be true even today. Jesus probably associates here with himself ("we") those who have personal experience of grace and so are qualified as witnesses. Note the plural in 1 John 1:1 . Bernard thinks that John has here read into the words of Jesus the convictions of a later age, a serious charge to make.